Compuware Corporation

John Graham-Cumming

Steven J Schaffer

Jacob Weil

Willem A Koulman

Michael Cartsonis

A user interface and computer-implemented method for analyzing and displaying network traffic performance assessment data in a computer network. Packet trace data is organized into application-level threads for display in a visual thread diagram. The user can manipulate the visual thread diagram to configure it in a number of ways in a dynamic manner.

Method to display information representing network traffic on a computer display monitor

A system, method, and software product dynamically determine network applications associated with any ports being used by packets on a network, allowing the packets to be properly routed, counted, and reported according to their applications. In one embodiment, an application-port mapping table stores static associations or mappings between applications and ports, as defined by a standards body or other source. The application-port mapping table is dynamically updated during runtime to reflect dynamic associations between applications and ports as extracted from packet data. The associations are identified by a packet analysis module which performs a two step verification of an application for a packet. In a first step, the packet analysis module applies the ports from a packet to the application-port mapping table to obtain a first application identifier. In a second, separate step, the packet analysis module applies identification logic to the packet to identify an application based on packet data. The second step may be used for each packet or only where the packet is not identified by the application-port mapping table. If a second application is successfully identified, the packet analysis module updates the application-port mapping table by adding a new association between the second identified application, and a port of the packet. To keep the application-port mapping table current, the table is periodically scanned to remove associations which have expired; alternatively, an association is removed when an end of sequence packet for its application is detected.

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Menlo Park, CA, United States of America

John Graham-Cumming